Legal Officer, Litigation & Dispute Resolution at First Bank of Nigeria Limited

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is Nigeria’s largest financial services institution by total assets and gross earnings. With more than 10 million customer accounts, FirstBank has over 750 branches providing a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services. The Bank has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank DRC, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Sierra-Leone and FBNBank Senegal, as well as its Representative Offices in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal Officer, Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Job Identification: 366
Location: Lagos
Job Schedule: Full time
Job Shift: Day

Duties & Responsibilities

Verifies Wills and Letters of Administration and renders advice on all probate-related matters.
Reviews Writs of Summon and Statements of Claim/Defence and other court processes, involving the Bank; proffers first level drafts thereon and/or responses thereto; makes first level evaluations thereof as well recommendation of likely strategies for the prosecution and/or defence of same for the Team Lead’s and Unit Head’s further review.
Responds to enquiries/demands from, and interfaces with, Law Enforcement Agencies with respect to a wide range of the Bank’s activities, including the Nigeria Police, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, Economic & Financial Crimes Commission; accompanies staff members of the bank to honour official invitations by these bodies and provides external counsel support, including arrangement for bail in deserving cases.
Represents the Team Lead, and sometimes, the Unit Head in meetings with customers and/ or branches.
Initiates, at the request of the SBUs, Recovery Business Unit and/or Classified Asset Management Unit and in liaison with External counsel, the review and initiation of debt recovery processes through litigation against defaulting customers of the Bank.
Attends to garnishee and other injunctive court processes/orders involving the Bank in liaison with Internal Control, SBUs and the External solicitors.
Manages and monitors pending cases in liaison with External Solicitors till conclusion.
Prepares the drafts of all species of local and cross-border Bonds and Guarantees and vets/reviews drafts of same prepared by counterparties to ensure there are no adverse clauses and that the interest of the Bank is adequately protected and understudies the Team Lead and Guarantee Supervisors in the Department in the art of Bonds and Guarantee drafting and reviews.
Conducts searches on Case files in various Court Registries which outcomes are used to support the Bank’s position in litigations and other tussle for interest.
Responds to complaints sent in by External Lawyers on behalf of their clients and convene meetings to resolve issues raised to avoid litigation and mitigate loss by the Bank.
Provides the legal framework for recovery action and/or the realization of the securities by issuing demand letters, appointment and formalization of appointment of Receiver/Managers, Auctioneers at the instance of Classified Assets Management Department, Credit Risk Management Department and Business units.
Initiates, attends and participates in meetings with defaulting customers and/or meetings on credit matters which have resulted or may result in litigation with the primary aim of ensuring recovery at minimal or no cost
Represents the Bank at meetings with the Public Defender, Consumer Protection Agencies and other quasi-judicial bodies that defend the rights of customers.
Attends to Branches’ requests in respect of matter arising from day-to-day operations which require legal advice/guidance.
Maintains the security of all information entrusted to Staff.
Ensures compliance with the principles and policies contained in the Information Security Handbook.
Ensures compliance with the principles and policies contained in the Business Continuity Management Handbook.
Assists the Team Lead and Unit Head in the Unit’s involvement in, and compliance with the Bank’s Information Security Management Policies, Business Continuity Management, BS25999, ISO 27001, and initiatives, Internal Audit outcomes and compliance with recommendations, ICAFAS, Business Performance Management, PSQA etc.
Performs any other duties as may be assigned by the Unit Head and/or Head, Legal Services.